Piece rates driven up in desperate search for workers to plant strawberry crop

Some growers are offering rates of up to $70 for 1000 plants, up from a rate of $35 to $40 per 1000.

Many growers have reduced the number of plants they have going in as well, with fears that there won't be the workers needed to harvest the berries.

Queensland Farm Management and Training managing partner Rodney Prestia said his labour hire company works with more than 10 farms across the Sunshine Coast region. All have struggled to find the workforce needed to plant their crop.

"Sheer desperation is probably the reason why growers are raising rates to unprecedented levels," he said.

"The farmers have always paid decent rates but we're now at the point where you just keep increasing it to make it too good to pass up.

"At our major farm, Queensland Berries, at the start of planting we had people that on their first day on the job could be earning $35, $36, $37 an hour.

"I applaud the growers for doing it but I pity them as well because their costs are going to be so much higher."

Mr Prestia said it was heartbreaking to not be able to connect growers with more workers to help with planting with just a six-week window to get the work done.

"Listening to them beg and plead on the phone, it's devastating," he said.

"The problem we've got is with such a small pool of backpackers now, a lot of them will chase the season and they may be down in Victoria or Stanthorpe for picking and come back up come May.

"I think a lot of growers' mental health is going to come into play as the pressure increases.

"After Anzac Day if the plants aren't in the ground, you can forget it.

"We really need to get them in the ground while there are still some warm days to get a good root set and a good foundation."

Queensland Strawberry Growers Association president Adrian Schultz said the troubles with planting were a bit unexpected.

"We need a much smaller crew in the area for planting than we do for harvest so we actually thought it would be ok," he said.

"The fact that there's still a shortage shows just how bad the situation is."

Mr Schulz said about 7000 people would be needed to harvest the winter strawberry crop across the Moreton Bay, Sunshine Coast and Bundaberg regions alone.

"What people don't realise is that you probably would have interviewed and tried 15,000 people to get those 7000," he said.

"It's not the sort of work everyone is right for.

"JobSeeker payments finish at the end of the month so hopefully that means some more people might apply."

Mr Schultz said the lack of labour was having implications for how big the strawberry harvest would be this year.

"I've dropped our plants by 30 to 35 per cent this year, " he said.

Mr Schulz said "onerous" red tape surrounding quarantine restrictions meant the federal government Pacific Labour Scheme wasn't well-suited to small to medium farms.

"You've got to have a minimum of 30 workers for an on-farm quarantine," he said.

"On my farm I actually have the facility where I could do it but I'm excluded from the scheme.

"We normally have 20 to 25 people at the peak of the season."